AMERICA  AND  AMERICANS 

an  Address  by 

EDWARD    DEAN  ADAMS 


To  the 
EXECUTIVE  STAFF  AND   EMPLOYEES 

of  the 
ALL  AMERICA   CABLES,  INC. 

AT  THEIR  ANNUAL  DINNER 

^December  20, 

York  City 


"All  Red,  White  and  Blue  Lines" 


Copyright,  1920,  by  Edward  Dean  Adams 


Gil'1! 


89   BROAD   STREET,   NEW    YORK. 


AMERICA  AND  AMERICANS 

The  3^ame  and  its  Significance 


ON  JANUARY  31,  1862,  when  lecturing  in 
Washington  before  an  audience  which  included 
President  Lincoln,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  said: 


Vk 


America  is  another  word  for  Opportunity" 


WE,  of  the  staff  of  the  All  America  Cables,  who  study  the  business  of 
our  organization  and  strive  to  promote  its  interests,  appreciate  the  vision 
of  its  founder,  James  A.  Scrymser,  when  he  availed  of  his  opportunity  to  extend 
his  cable  enterprise  into  the  continent  we  now  know  to  be  the  original  America. 
In  our  plans  of  development  by  an  increase  of  our  territory  of  usefulness  in 
the  southern  continent  of  this  hemisphere,  we  realize  that  it  is  indeed  a  land  of 
opportunity. 

By  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  its  peoples  we  understand  that  we  have 
not  hitherto  fully  appreciated  that  they  have  a  prior  claim  to  the  designation 
of  America  and  Americans  which  we  may  have  assumed,  in  part  at  least,  for 
our  own  country  and  people. 

Attention  is  therefore  invited  to  some  of  the  circumstances  that  make  the 
new  and  popular  title,  ALL  AMERICA  CABLES,  a  fitting  one  for  our  Company. 

Discoveries  made  within  the  last  25  years  have  supplied  some  pages  that 
were  missing  in  the  history  of  a  period  more  than  400  years  ago,  and  have 
changed  opinions  and  corrected  errors  which  had  prevailed  for  several  centuries, 
as  to  how  the  New  World  came  to  be  called  AMERICA. 

The  great  publicity  accorded  the  discoveries  of  Christopher  Columbus  by 
reason  of  the  royal  patronage  he  enjoyed,  and  the  pathetic  drama  of  his  later 
life  and  death,  have  given  to  this  discoverer  the  admiration  and  sympathy  of  all 
people,  whereas  the  voyages  of  Americus  Vespucius,  told  only  in  his  own  brief 


3] 


4-.  4  42  64 


letters,  have  been  doubted  by  historians  as  to  their  number  and  dates,  and  yet 
nearly  one-third  of  the  land  of  this  globe  had,  within  a  lew  years  after  his 
voyages  and  five  years  before  his  death,  been  known  and  recorded  on  the  maps 
of  most  all  nations  as  AMERICA. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  there  is  no  suggestion  whatever  in  any  of  the  letters 
attributed  to  Vespucius  that  the  newly  discovered  world  should  be  given  his 
name  or  any  other  name. 

In  the  lack  of  information  and  the  heat  of  controversy,  the  prevailing  sense 
of  justice  would  long  ago  have  given  the  name  of  Columbus  to  the  New  World, 
had  it  been  practicable  to  have  altered  maps,  histories,  treaties,  laws  and  litera 
ture  into  which  the  name  America  had  become  so  promptly  and  thoroughly 
adopted.  Many  attempts  have  been  made  during  the  past  century  to  change 
the  name  of  this  country  from  America  to  Columbia.  The  appreciation  of 
what  the  name  Columbus  stands  for  is  showrn  by  the  extended  use  of  this  name, 
in  several  variations,  in  the  designation  of  98  towns,  counties,  cities  and  rivers 
in  these  United  States.  The  name  Americus  or  its  derivatives  is  used  i  6  times, 
while  the  name  Vespucius  does  not  appear  anywhere  in  this  country  as  a  title 
to  objects  of  nature  or  the  results  of  civilization. 

It  is  this  sentiment  of  fairness  to  Columbus  that  has  prompted  writers  of  many 
nations,  in  the  absence  of  definite  information  to  the  contrary,  to  incorporate 
into  their  histories  and  geographies  such  phrases  as  we  find  in  our  own  school 
books  and  works  of  reference,  to  the  effect  that  Americus  Vespucius  was  a  famous 
Italian  navigator  who  gave  his  name  to  the  New  World. 

No  less  eminent  a  scholar  than  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  is  responsible  for  the 
following  statement  made  in  1856,  in  his  ''English  Traits": 

"Strange  that  broad  America  must  wear  the  name  of  a  thief,  Amerigo  Vespucci, 
the  pickle  dealer  of  Seville,  who  went  out  in  1499,  a  subaltern  with  Hojeda,  and 
whose  highest  naval  rank  was  boatswain's  mate  in  an  expedition  that  never  sailed, 
managed  in  this  lying  world  to  supplant  Columbus  and  baptize  half  the  earth  with 
his  own  dishonest  name." 

(  Riverside  Edition,  f$Sj,  Vol.  2,  Page  /./<?.) 

In  1892,  howrever,  John  Fiske,  the  historian,  wrote: 

"No  competent  scholar  anywhere  will  now  be  found  to  dissent  from  the  emphatic 
statement  of  M.  Harrisse:  'After  diligent  study  of  all  the  original  documents,  we  feel 
constrained  to  say  that  there,  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence,  direct  or  indirect,  impli 
cating  Americus  Vespucius  in  any  attempt  to  foist  his  name  on  this  continent.'  " 

(Bibliotheca  Americana  fetuaisiimat  New  York,  1866,  Page  65) 

[4] 


AMERICUS  VESPUCIUS 

Oil  Painting  No.  ~O2 — UFFIZI  GALLERY,  FLORENCE 
Where  it  is  claimed  to  have  been  in   i  568 


wv~ 


It  thus  becomes  of  interest  to  review  the  historical  record  of  the  life  of 
Americus  Vespucius  and  to  ascertain  the  circumstances  under  which  this  conti 
nent,  with  its  three  great  subdivisions,  became  known  as  AMERICA. 

The  navigator  generally  known  as  Americus  Vespucius,  the  Latinized  name 
of  the  Italian,  Amerigo  Vespucci,  was  born  in  Florence,  on  March  9,  1452,  of  a 
distinguished  family  that  had  then  resided  in  that  city  for  more  than  i  oo  years. 

He  was  educated  for  a  commercial  career,  and  is  said  to  have  made  great 
progress  in  natural  philosophy,  astronomy  and  cosmography,  the  sciences  con 
nected  with  navigation,  in  which  the  Florentine  nobility  was  specially  instructed 
at  that  period. 

He  went  to  Spain  in  1490,  when  he  was  39  years  old,  and  is  reported  to 
have  been  at  Seville  in  1492  when  Columbus  was  preparing  for  a  voyage  of 
exploration,  as  well  as  in  1493  when  Columbus  returned.  Vespucius  at  this 
time  was  an  agent  for,  or  partner  with,  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  (cousin  of  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent),  and  later  for  Juanoto  Berardi,  of  Florence,  to  whom  was 
given  the  contract  to  prepare  the  rleet  for  the  second  voyage  of  "Don  Cristo 
bal  Colon,  Admiral  of  the  Ocean  Sea  and  Viceroy  of  the  Indies." 

Ancient  documents,  discovered  by  a  Spanish  historian  about  the  year  1800, 
indicate  that  Vespucius  was  engaged  in  1497  in  preparing  the  rleet  in  which 
Columbus  made  his  third  voyage.  About  this  period,  it  appears  from  a  letter 
he  wrote  in  j  504  to  his  friend,  Piero  Soderini,  Gonfalonier  of  Florence,  Ves 
pucius  abandoned  mercantile  life  and  prepared  himself  for  world  quest  by 
further  studies  in  astronomy  and  cosmography,  in  which  he  became  proficient. 
He  appears  to  have  been,  at  the  request  of  the  patron  King,  the  authorized 
astronomer  or  chief  pilot  of  the  fleets  in  which  his  voyages  were  made.  He 
was  recognized  and  honored  as  the  greatest  navigator  of  his  time  by  the  people 
of  Portugal  and  of  Florence. 

His  first  voyage  was  from  Cadiz  on  May  10,  1497,  with  a  Meet  of  four  ships 
under  the  command,  it  is  believed,  of  Vicente  Pinzon,  with  Vespucius  as  pilot 
and  cosmographer,  through  the  great  western  ocean,  returning  October  15, 
1498  after  exploration  of  land  "within  the  Torrid  Zone,  under  the  parallel 
which  describes  the  Tropic  of  Cancer."  Historians  consider  the  description 
given  to  indicate  visits  to  the  islands  of  Grenada  and  St.  Vincent  as  now  known, 
and  that  the  voyage  was  chiefly  along  the  coasts  of  Honduras,  Yucatan,  Mexico, 
and  Florida,  and  possibly  as  far  north  as  Chesapeake  Bay. 


[6] 


The  second  voyage,  of  three  ships  in  company,  was  made  from  June  1499 
to  September  1500,  under  the  rlag  of  Castile,  and  under  the  command  of 
Alonzo  de  Hojeda.  This  voyage  extended  along  the  northern  coast  of  South 
America,  from  some  point  on  what  would  now  be  called  .the  north  coast  of 
Brazil,  to  the  Pearl  Coast,  and  beyond  to  the  Gulf  of  Maracaibo. 

The  third  voyage,  from  Lisbon,  May  1501,  was  undertaken  in  the  service  of 
King  Emanuel  of  Portugal,  and  extended  southward  along  the  coast  of  Brazil, 
discovering  the  Bay  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  probably  the  mouth  of  the  River 
de  la  Plata,  and  beyond  the  latitude  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Mope.  This  voyage 
was  described  at  length  in  a  letter  to  his  friend,  Piero  Soderini,  as  well  as  by 
three  letters  to  his  patron,  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  in  the  last  of  which  Vespucius 
writes: 

"In  days  past  I  gave  your  excellency  a  full  account  of  my  return,  and  if  1  remember 
aright  wrote  you  a  description  of  all  those  parts  of  the  new  world  which  I  had  visited 
in  the  ships  of  His  Highness,  the  King  of  Portugal.  Carefully  considered,  they 
appear  truly  to  form  another  world,  and  therefore  we  have  not  without  reason  called 
it  the  NEW  WORLD. 

"Beyond  the  equinoctial  line  1  found  countries  more  fertile  and  more  densely 
inhabited  than  I  have  ever  found  anywhere  else,  even  in  Asia,  Africa  and  Europe. 
"We  sailed  from  Lisbon,  which  is  nearly  forty  degrees  distant  from  the  equinoctial 
line,  toward  the  north,  to  this  country  which  is  fifty  degrees  on  the  other  side  of  the 
line.  The  sum  of  these  degrees  is  ninety  and  is  the  fourth  part  of  the  circumference 
of  the  globe,  according  to  the  reckoning  of  the  ancients,  and  it  is  therefore  manifest 
to  all  that  we  measured  the  fourth  part  of  the  earth." 

This  letter,  during  the  absence  of  Vespucius  on  his  fourth  voyage,  was  trans 
lated  from  Italian  into  Latin  by  Giovanni  Giocondo,  an  eminent  scholar  of 
Verona,  then  living  in  Paris,  and  was  printed  in  a  condensed  form  as  a  little 
quarto  of  four  pages  with  the  title  "Mundus  Novus"  or  "New  World,"  which 
was  widely  circulated  in  Europe.  Henry  N.  Stevens  esteems  this  quarto  as 
"one  of  the  most  precious  documents  in  the  world." 

John  Fiske  states: 

"This  voyage  made  a  great  sensation  in  Europe.  It  proved  the  existence  of  an 
inhabited  continent  hitherto  unvisited  by  civilized  man  in  the  southern  hemisphere. 
What  could  it  be?  If  you  look  at  the  Mela  map  you  will  see  how  it  was  regarded. 
Mela  believed  there  was  a  great  southern  continent,  which  he  called  the  '  Opposite 
World.'  Geographers  often  called  it  the  'Fourth  Part,'  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa 
were  three  parts  of  the  earth,  and  Mela's  southern  continent  was  the  fourth.  Nobody 
had  ever  visited  this  Fourth  Part,  and  many  people  doubted  its  existence.  Now 
Americus  was  supposed  to  have  proved  its  existence.  It  was  thought  that  Columbus 
and  Cabot  had  reached  Asia,  and  that  Americus  had  coasted  along  a  great  southern 
continent  south  of  Asia.  The  coast  of  Brazil  was  naturally  thought  to  be  the  coast 


of  the  Fourth  Part." 


7] 


COSMOGRAPHIAE  INTRODVo 
CTIO/CVMQVIBVS 
DAM  GEOME 
TRIAE 

AC 

ASTRONO 
MIAEPRINCIPIISAD 
EAM  REMNECESSARHS; 


Infuperquatuor  Amenci 

fpuci)  nauigationcs. 


Vniuerfalis'Cofmograpnij  defcriptio 

tarn  in  fblidocjp  piano  /eis  ctiam 

znfertis  qu£  Ptholomep 

ignotaanuperis 

repcrta  funr. 


DISTICHON, 

Cum  deus  aftra  regat/&:  terra;  climata  CarTar 
Nee  tcllus  nee  eis  fydera  maius  habcnt. 


( Translation } 

INTRODUCTION  TO  COSMOGRAPHY 

together  with 

Some  Principles  of  Geometry  and  Astronomy 
Necessary  to  the  Purpose 

Also 

Four  Navigations  of 
Americus  Vespucius 

A  Representation  of  Universal  Cosmography 
Both  in  Solido  and  in  Piano 

What  to  Ptolemy  was  Unknown 
and  Lately  Discovered 

DISTICH 

Neither  earth  nor  stars  possess  anything  greater 

than  God  and  Caesar,  as  God  rules  the  stars, 

and  Caesar  the  climes  of  the  earth 


"We  can  now  begin  to  understand  the  intense  and  wildly  absorbing  interest  with 
which  people  read  the  brief  story  of  the  third  voyage  ot  Vespucius,  and  we  can  see 
that  in  the  nature  of  that  interest  there  was  nothing  calculated  to  bring  it  into  com 
parison  with  the  work  of  Columbus.  The  two  navigators  were  not  regarded  as 
rivals  in  doing  the  same  thing,  but  as  men  who  had  done  two  very  different  things, 
and  to  give  credit  to  the  one  was  by  no  means  equivalent  to  withholding  credit  from 
the  other." 

(Riverside  Edition,  fSSj,  l^ol.  2,  Page  129} 


The  significance  ot  Vespucius'  letter  is  in  the  tact  that  it  describes  the  discovery 
ot  the  entire  eastern  coast  ot  the  South  American  continent,  without  knowing 
ot  its  terminus  at  the  Straits,  which  it  has  been  generally  understood  were  not 
traversed  by  their  discoverer,  Magellan,  until  1520. 

Vespucius  returned  to  Lisbon  in  i  502,  and  in  May  i  503,  at  the  urgent  request 
of  the  King  ot  Portugal,  started  with  six  ships  in  company  on  his  fourth  voyage, 


[8] 


ce  multu  &T  \  Itracj?  fit  crcdibile  feftiug  fufecpti  fu{# 
nuiscob  id  (]•>  ipia  tota  ciuitas  nos  in  man  difperdi* 
tos  cllc  txiftimabat.  queadmodu  reliqui  otnnes  de 
rurba  noltra  p  pfecri  nf  i  nauiu  ftulta  pr^fumptio* 
nc  cxriter.it.  Q_uo  fupcrbia  modo  iufhis  omniu  cc 
lor  dcus  copcnfat .  Et  ita  nuc  apud  Lifbona  ipfam 
fubfifto  ignorans  quid  dc  me  fcrcniflimus  ipfe  rex 
dcinccps  efliccrccogitet.q  atanris  labonbus  meis 
iam  cxnunc  rcquicfccre  plurimu  pcroptarcm/  hue 
nunciu  maicltati  veftrc  plurimu  quoqj  intcrdu  co 
mcndans.  Amcricus  Veiputius  in  Lifbonsu 


COSMOGRPHIAI3 


Capadoa*am/Pamphi!iam/LiJiam/CiIim/Arm* 
nias  maiore  &T  minore.Colchidcn/Hircaniam/Hw 
beriam/AlbaniA:ct  prcterea  mftas  quas  fingilatim 
cnumcrarelongamora  cflet.ltadnfla  ab  cius  no  mi 
nis  regina. 

Nuc  )?o  &:  hf  partes  funt  latins  luftratar/S:  alia 

quartapars  per  America  Vefputiucvt  in  fequcnti 

Jbusaudietur)inuentac(t/qu;i  non  video  cur  quis 

liure  vetctab  Americo  inucntorc  fagacis  ingcni)  vi 

AmcriV  ro  Amerigen  quali  Americi  terra  /  iiuc  Amencam 

ca  dicenda:cii  &T  Europa  &f  Afia  a  mulienbus  tua  for 

tita  fint  nomina.Eius  fitu  &  gcntis  mores  ex  bis  bi 

nis  Americi  nauigationibus  quac  fequunf  liquide 

intelligidatur. 

Hunc  in  modu  terra  iam  quadripartita  cogno* 
fcitret  funt  tres  prime  partes  cotinentcs  /quarta  eft 
infula:caomniquacpimricircudataconfpiciat.Ec 
licet  mare  vnu  fit  queadmodu  et  ipfa  tellus/multis 
tamen  Gnibus  diftinclum  /  8^  innumcris  rcplctum 
Prifc'     *n^u^s  va"a  fibi  nola  aflfumit  :quj  et  in  Cofmogra 
phias  tabulis  cofpiciunf/8^  Prifcianus  in  tralatione 
Dionifrj  tahbus  enumcrat  verfibus. 
Circuit  Oceani  gurges  tamen  vndic]?  vaftus 
Quicputs  vnus  Gtplurima  nomina  fumit. 
Finibus  Hcfperrjs  Athlanticus  iUe  vocatur 
At  Bore^qua  gens  furit  Armiafpa  fub  armis 
Dkit  li'e  nig:;r  uecao  Satur.idc  Mortuus  c~ 


nus 


Finitu.vi).kfMaij 
Anno  fupra  fcfqui 
miJlclimum,vii» 


^  i 

n    5' 

3^ 


' 


(  Translation  of  portion  of  above 


But  now  these  parts  have  been  more  extensively  explored  and  another  fourth  part  has  been  discovered  by  Americus 
\  espucius  (as  will  appear  in  what  follows):  Wherefore  I  do  not  see  what  is  rightly  to  hinder  us  from  calling  it  AMERIGE, 
or  AMERICA,  i.e.,  the  land  of  Americus,  after  its  discoverer,  Americus,  a  man  of  sagacious  mind,  since  both  Europe 
and  Asia  have  got  their  names  from  women.  Its  situation  and  the  manners  and  customs  of  its  people  will  be  clearly 
understood  from  the  twice  two  voyages  of  Americus,  which  follow. 

Finished  April  25,   1507 


[9] 


in  the  hope  of  finding  a  strait  through  the  continent,  by  which  India  might  be 
reached.  He  returned  to  Lisbon  from  this  voyage  June  18,  1504. 

By  the  letter  written  by  Vespucius  in  Lisbon  a  few  months  after  his  return 
from  this,  his  foufth  voyage,  to  his  Florentine  friend,  Soderini,  it  appears  that 
this  voyage  did  not  result  according  to  his  wishes,  on  account  of  a  disaster  to 
the  fleet,  in  which  the  ship  of  Vespucius  was  separated  by  a  storm,  and  sailed  to 
a  country  situated,  he  relates,  eighteen  degrees  south  of  the  equinoctial  line,  and 
fifty-seven  degrees  farther  west  than  Lisbon. 

Upon  his  return  to  Spain  in  1504,  Vespucius  was  in  high  favor  with  King 
Ferdinand,  who,  on  March  22,  i  508,  created  the  office  of  Pilot-Major  of  Spain, 
and  appointed  Vespucius  thereto,  as  the  most  eminent  navigator  of  his  king 
dom.  Vespucius  then  became  Chief  of  a  Government  Department  pertaining  to 
pilotage,  navigation,  and  charts.  He  was  directed  to  examine  all  pilots,  instruct 
applicants,  issue  certificates  of  ability  that  were  required  before  employment, 
and  to  supervise  the  preparation  of  a  standard  or  Royal  Chart  by  which  all  pilots 
were  to  be  governed.  The  position  wras  of  great  honor,  with  important  emolu 
ment,  and  its  onerous  duties  were  discharged  with  fidelity  and  skill. 

During  this  service  Vespucius  made  one  short  visit  to  Florence,  where  his 
portrait  was  painted  and  he  was  otherwise  honored  as  one  of  its  most  distinguished 
sons.  Giorgio  Vasari,  the  painter,  art  critic  and  historian  of  Florence,  who  made 
a  list  in  1568  of  painters  represented  in  the  collection  of  illustrious  persons, 
founded  by  Casimo  I,  de'  Medici,  referred  therein  to  a  portrait  of  Amerigo 
Vespucci,  which  is  said  to  have  been  identified  by  the  authorities  of  the  Royal 
Uffizi  Gallery  of  Florence  as  that  numbered  702  in  their  present  catalogue 
of  533  portraits  of  illustrious  Tuscans.  This  portrait,  a  reproduction  of  which  is 
hereto  annexed,  has  been  considered  by  some  as  a  portrait  from  life,  and  has 
formed  the  basis  for  many  of  the  portraits  in  America. 

Before  departure  on  his  great  voyage,  the  third,  Vespucius  married  Dona 
Maria  Carezo,  of  Seville,  who  shared  his  honors  at  the  Spanish  Court,  and  survived 
him  several  years 

By  reason  of  the  active  part  taken  by  the  Florentine  Berardi  in  outfitting  the 
ships  for  the  several  voyages  of  Columbus,  Americus  Vespucius,  as  the  partner 
of  Berardi,  in  charge  of  the  preparations,  became  well  acquainted  with  Columbus, 
who  in  a  letter  written  at  Seville  on  February  5,  1506,  to  his  son,  about  one 
year  after  the  publication  of  Vespucius'  letter  to  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  and  during 


[10] 


the   absence   oi   both   Columbus   and   Vespucius   on   their  respective  voyages  of 
exploration,  states: 

"  I  held  converse  with  Amerigo  Vespucci,  the  bearer  of  this  letter,  who  goes  to  Court 
on  some  business  connected  with  navigation.  He  has  always  been  desirous  observing 
me,  and  is  an  honorable  man,  though  fortune  has  been  unpropitious  to  him,  as 
to  many  others,  and  his  labors  have  not  been  as  profitable  as  he  deserves.  He  goes  on 
my  account,  and  with  a  great  desire  to  do  something  which  may  redound  to  my 
advantage  if  it  is  in  his  power." 

Americus  Vespucius  died  February  22,  1512,  at  Seville,  when  he  was  60 
years  of  age  after  about  four  years  in  office  as  Pilot-Major  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Spain.  He  died,  as  it  is  written  by  Frederick  A.  Ober,  in  his  "Amerigo  Ves 
pucci,"  "with  a  name  untarnished,  a  reputation  for  probity  unsullied." 

John  Fiske  describes  him  as  follows: 

"He  seems  in  these  earlier  years,  as  throughout  his  life,  to  have  won  and  retained 
the  respect  of  all  who  knew  him,  as  a  man  of  integrity  and  modesty,  quiet  but  some 
what  playful  in  manner,  mild  and  placable  in  temper,  and  endowed  with  keen 
intelligence.  He  seems  to  have  been  of  middle  height  and  somewhat  brawny,  with 
aquiline  features  and  olive  complexion,  black  eyes  and  hair,  and  a  mouth  at  once 
firm  and  refined." 

He  was  highly  honored  by  the  Kings  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  the  rulers 
of  Italy,  but,  as  he  left  no  fortune,  his  widow  was  dependent  upon  the  pension 
granted  her  by  the  Crown  in  a  royal  decree  issued  three  months  after  Ves 
pucius'  death. 

A  newspaper  item  from  Florence  under  date  of  April  10,  1910,  announces 
the  death  of  his  last  descendant,  the  Countess  Amerigo  Vespucci,  at  the  age  of 
ninety-three,  a  Spanish  pensioner,  in  succession  of  her  great  ancestor. 

In  1719  a  marble  tablet  was  placed  over  the  entrance  to  the  house  in 
Florence,  which  "for  centuries  before  the  discovery  of  America  was  the  dwell 
ing  place  of  the  ancestors  of  Amerigo  Vespucci,  and  his  own  birthplace," 
bearing  the  inscription: 

"  To  -America  Uespuccio,  a  noble  Florentine,  who,  by  the 

'Discovery  of  ^America 
Tendered  his  own  and  his  Country' s  name  illustrious. 

The  ^Amplifier  of  the  World" 

Such  are  the  facts  in  the  life  of  Americus  Vespucius.  It  may  now  be  of 
interest  to  learn  how  the  name  America  came  to  be  applied  to  the  land  which 
Vespucius  called  the  New  World.  This  inquiry  leads  us  along  another  trail  of 
history,  but  of  literature  and  not  of  adventure. 


f  "1 


VNTVERSAUS 


COS/AOGRAPH1A. 


DITIONEM 


WALDSF.F.MU 


£4     *o  mi 


FT  .V\ERIC- 


.ER   MAP  «/1507 


I  '3] 


Rene  II  de  Vandemont,  reigning  Duke  of  Lorraine  and  titular  King  of 
Sicily  and  of  Jerusalem,  was  born  in  1451,  son  of  Ferry  II,  Count  of  Vande 
mont  and  Yolande  of  Anjou.  After  his  defeat  of  Charles  the  Bold,  at  Nancy, 
in  1477,  he  is  said  to  have  become  "an  enthusiastic  patron  of  literature  and  the 
arts  "  attracting  men  of  letters,  artists  and  scientists  to  Saint-Die,  in  the  Vosges 
Mountains,  where  he  established  a  lyceum  of  the  fine  arts  in  sculpture,  paint 
ing,  gold  work  and  tapestry.  Among  the  distinguished  scholars  at  Saint-Die 
at  that  period  were  Mattias  Ringmann,  Professor  of  Latin,  from  Paris;  Martin 
Waldseemuller,  of  Friburg,  Professor  of  Geography;  Jean  Basin  de  Sendacour, 
Latinist,  and  Walter  Lud,  who  introduced  a  printing  press  into  that  society 
about  the  year  1490.  This  was  only  40  years  after  John  Gutenberg,  at  the 
neighboring  town  of  Mainz,  had  invented  printing  with  single  cut  metal  type. 

The  facilities  at  Saint- Die  for  the  publication  of  a  printed  book  prompted 
these  men  of  letters  to  consider  the  preparation  of  a  later  edition  of  the  Cos 
mography  of  Ptolemy,  as  so  many  new  and  important  discoveries  had  been  made 
since  its  last  issue.  Professor  Ringmann,  it  appears,  was  sent  to  Italy  about  i  506 
for  the  latest  information  from  the  navigators  and  explorers.  He  is  said  to  have 
brought  back  a  copy  of  a  letter  written  by  Americus  Vespucius  from  Lisbon  in 
i  504,  which  was  printed  at  Florence  in  i  506.  This  letter  was  followed  by 
three  other  letters  describing  his  voyages,  extending  along  the  coast  of  Brazil 
to  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  probably  to  the  Rio  Plata  and  the  ocean  farther  south  to 
the  island  of  South  Georgia. 

It  should  be  noticed  that  Vespucius  states  in  his  letter  to  his  friend  Soderini, 
giving  an  account  of  his  first  four  voyages,  that  he  had  noted  the  most  wonder 
ful  things,  and  had  indited  all  in  a  volume  after  the  manner  of  a  geography, 
and  entitled  it  "  Le  Quattro  Giornate." 

The  records  of  these  years  of  discoveries  refer  to  reports  made  by  Vespucius 
upon  his  return  from  his  voyages  to  the  King  of  Spain  and  the  King  of  Portugal. 
Neither  these  reports  nor  the  volume  of  "  Le  Quattro  Giornate"  have  been 
discovered,  although  careful  research  has  been  made  by  historians  of  several 
countries  in  the  archives  of  Spain  and  Portugal. 

The  informal  letters  of  Vespucius  to  his  friends,  describing  his  first  four 
voyages,  therefore  constitute  the  principal  direct  testimony  of  Vespucius  in 
regard  to  his  discoveries.  The  letters  were  originally  written  in  Italian  "in  rude 
and  ungrammatical  language,  jargonized  by  the  admixture  of  Spanish  or 


[   '4] 


S  f  0 


Copv  of  that  part  of  Map  of  1507  that  shows  the  continent  ot  America 

I  '5] 


Portuguese  words  and  idioms."  The  first  letter  referring  to  three  voyages  was 
printed  three  or  four  times  in  1503  and  several  times  in  1504-1505.  The 
Latin  translation  of  all  the  letters  was  published  in  1507.  An  early  edition  was 
published  in  Paris,  where  Vespucius'  friend  Giocondo,  who  made  the  Latin 
translation,  resided.  A  French  version  was  also  published,  and  this  appears  to 
have  reached  the  members  of  the  society  at  Saint-Die,  where  a  Latin  translation 
was  made  by  Jean  Basin,  of  that  coterie,  who  in  1503  was  in  Paris,  and  con 
veyed  a  copy  of  Vespucius'  "Epistola"  to  his  friends  at  Saint-Die.  Ringmann, 
who  had  visited  Italy  for  the  latest  reports  from  the  exploring  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  navigators,  to  use  in  the  new  edition  of  the  cosmography  of  Ptolemy 
that  was  in  preparation  at  the  Saint-Die  press,  returned  with  the  first  letters  of 
Vespucius  in  i  506,  when  new  charts  were  obtained  that,  it  was  said,  came  from 
Portugal. 

Martin  Waldseemuller,  the  cartographer  of  Saint-Die,  in  April  1507,  wrote 
to  his  friend,  Joh.  Amerbach,  in  Basel,  that  "I  am  on  the  point  to  print  in  the 
town  of  Saint-Die  the  cosmography  of  Ptolemy,  after  having  added  to  the  same, 
new  maps."  The  Ptolemy  was  not  published  until  1513. 

With  the  official  letters  of  Vespucius  at  hand  describing  his  four  voyages,  and 
the  details  of  the  locations  he  visited  added  to  the  new  map  that  Cartographer 
Waldseemuller  had  in  preparation,  it  is  readily  understood  why  the  printing 
of  the  new  Ptolemy  was  postponed,  and  the  little  book  entitled  "Cosmographiae 
Introductio"  was  published  at  Saint-Die  on  April  25,  1507,  containing  the  first 
printed  record  of  the  word  AMERICA.  There  was  such  demand  for  this  treatise 
that  several  editions  were  prepared  and  quickly  distributed,  together  with  one 
thousand  maps  of  an  issue  entitled  "The  World  Map  of  1507."  There  is  one 
copy  of  the  first  edition  of  this  book  in  the  New  York  Public  Library,  as  well 
as  three  copies  of  a  later  edition.  The  Ann  Mary  Brown  Memorial  Library  of 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  the  Library  of  the  British  Museum  of  London,  and 
a  :;:private  collection  in  New  York  are  believed  to  have  one  copy  each  of  this 
very  rare  first  edition. 

By  the  courtesy  of  the  Librarian  of  the  New  York  Public  Library,  photo 
graphic  copies  of  the  title  page,  the  following  quoted  statement,  and  the  last 
page  of  the  text,  showing  the  colophon  and  the  date  of  April  25,  1507,  are 
reproduced  with  translations  herewith. 


*  Ho/J  at  auction  in  AV-rr   Toik,  February  {>,  /<J-'(>,  for  /_J(>(><>. 

I    i  6 


This  little  book  contains  the  first  suggestion  of  the  name  AMERICA,  but 
applied,  it  will  be  seen,  to  the  country  discovered  by  Vespucius,  that  was  nearly 
all  south  of  the  equator.  After  referring  to  the  three  divisions  of  the  earth's 
surface,  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  Waldseemuller  states: 

"  But  now  these  parts  have  been  more  extensively  explored,  and  another  fourth  part 
has  been  discovered  by  Americus  Vespucius  (as  will  appear  in  what  follows)  : 
Wherefore  I  do  not  see  what  is  rightly  to  hinder  us  from  calling  it  AMERIGE  or 
AMERICA,  i.e.,  the  land  of  Americus,  after  its  discoverer,  Americus,  a  man  of  saga 
cious  mind,  since  both  Europe  and  Asia  have  got  their  names  from  women.  Its 
situation  and  the  manners  and  customs  of  its  people  will  be  clearly  understood  from 
the  twice  two  voyages  of  Americus  which  follow." 

The  maps  soon  became  scarce,  and  for  several  hundred  years  were  not  obtain 
able,  and  their  original  existence  would  have  been  doubted,  although  mentioned 
in  the  "Cosmographiae  Introductio,"  but  for  references  thereto  by  later  cartog 
raphers  who  copied  various  parts  thereof  in  their  maps,  issued  soon  after  i  507. 

Two  manuscript  maps  were  discovered  at  Munich  and  Bonn,  that  bear  the 
name  AMERICA.  On  the  Bonn  map,  of  1510,  discovered  in  1896,  Henricus 
Glareanus  had  written  a  marginal  note  to  the  effect  that  he  had  copied  it  from 
the  map  of  the  Vosgean  geographer  Waldseemuller. 

Until  a  copy  of  the  world  map  of  1507  was  discovered,  18  years  ago, 
the  earliest  known  map  with  the  name  AMERICA,  excepting  the  Bonn  map 
of  1510,  above  mentioned,  was  part  of  the  papers  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci  of 
1514,  which  were  found  about  60  years  ago  in  Queen  Victoria's  library  at 
Windsor  Castle. 

It  had  therefore  been  long  contended  that  if  the  Waldseemuller  map  ever 
came  to  light,  the  newly  discovered  western  land  indicated  thereon  would 
probably  be  found  to  bear  the  name  AMERICA,  as  suggested  in  the  book  of 
Waldseemuller  of  1507. 

Bearing  in  mind  that  Martin  Waldseemuller  was  the  acknowledged  geogra 
pher  and  cartographer  of  the  society  for  the  cultivation  of  arts  and  sciences  at 
Saint-Die,  under  the  patronage  of  Rene,  the  reigning  Duke  of  Lorraine,  we 
can  understand  his  intense  interest  in  the  accounts  that  he  had  received  of  the 
voyage  of  Americus  Vespucius,  and  that  the  brief  statement  in  his  "  Cosmo 
graphiae  Introductio"  contains  explanations  of  geometry  and  astronomy  thought 
to  be  necessary  to  an  understanding  of  the  descriptions  by  Vespucius  of  the  loca 
tion  of  the  countries  that  he  had  discovered.  As  Waldseemuller  had  an  up-to-date 
map  in  preparation  for  the  proposed  new  edition  of  the  "  Cosmography  of 


[17] 


u 


3 


a: 

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b     O 


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—      o_ 


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O 

^    z 


DC 
c/: 


[18] 


Ptolemy,"  he  had  the  basis  for  the  prompt  production,  with  the  latest  dis 
coveries,  of  a  new  map  which  should  accompany  his  little  book,  for  the 
purpose  of  the  announcement  to  the  civilized  world  of  this  most  important 
revelation  of  other  countries  and  people  on  the  surface  of  the  globe. 

The  book  mentioned  refers  to  the  map  as  a  representation  of  universal  cos-, 
mography,  both  in  solido  and  piano,  what  to  Ptolemy  was  unknown,  and  lately 
discovered.  From  various  passages  in  the  book  we  learn  that  the  globe  and 
map  were  to  contain  representations  of  the  newly  discovered  fourth  part  of  the 
wrorld.  No  particulars  of  size  are  given. 

The  discovery  of  the  long  lost  Waldseemuller  map  of  1507  was  made  in 
1901  by  Joseph  Fischer,  Professor  of  Geography  at  the  Jesuit  College,  Feld- 
kirsch,  Austria,  when  engaged  in  research  in  the  old  library  of  Prince  Waldburg 
at  Wolfegg  Castle  in  Wurttemberg,  Germany.  The  Stevens  prospectus  states : 

"Authorities  have  always  differed  considerably  in  their  conceptions  as  to  the 
probable  form  and  size  of  the  lost  map  of  1507,  but  no  one  ever  suspected  the 
existence  of  such  a  veritable  cartographical  monster  as  Professor  Fischer  so 
fortunately  awakened  from  so  many  centuries  of  peaceful  slumber  in  the  library 
of  Wolfegg  Castle.  The  map  is  far  too  large  to  be  engraved  and  printed  on 
one  sheet;  in  fact  it  comprises  no  less  than  i  2  sheets,  each  having  a  separate 
border  and  being  therefore  complete  in  itself.  From  the  scope  of  the  general 
design  it  is  evident,  however,  that  the  j  2  sheets  were  also  intended  to  be  joined 
together,  as  in  a  wall  map,  so  as  to  exhibit  the  whole  world  at  one  glance.  Each 
sheet  measures,  on  the  average,  23^/2  inches  long  by  \Jl/2  inches  high  (exclusive 
of  margin!,  and  the  complete  map  is  four  sheets  long  by  three  sheets  high. 

"From  an  art  point  of  view7,  too,  the  boldness  and  beauty  of  the  design,  and 
the  skill  of  the  engraver  call  for  universal  admiration,  especially  when  it  is 
remembered  that  the  r  2  sheets,  if  joined  up  as  a  whole,  would  form  one  com 
plete  design,  some  8  feet  long  by  4  feet  6  inches  wide. 

"The  enormous  size  when  thus  made  up  as  a  wall  map  probably  accounts  for 
its  complete  disappearance,  notwithstanding  that,  from  a  legend  on  the  1516 
map,  we  learn  that  no  less  than  a  thousand  copies  of  this  1507  map  were 
printed.  To  the  fact  that  the  Wolfegg  copy  was  not  so  made  up,  but  was 
bound  in  a  folio  volume  with  the  sheets  folded  in  the  centre  and  guarded  from 
the  back,  we  probably  owe  the  survival  of  the  only  copy  yet  found  of  this 


[-9] 


Medal  issued  in  1903  by  the  American  Numismatic  Society,  Victor  D.  Brenner, 

Sculptor.      The  facsimile  signature  of  Martin  Waldseemiiller  is  from 

his  letter  to  (oh.  Amerbach,  of  Basil,  of  April  7,   1507 


20  ] 


magnificent  cartographical  monument.  The  maps  are  engraved  on  wood  and 
the  quality  of  the  work  is  such  as  to  cause  admiration  and  astonishment  at  the 
surprising  development  of  the  art  at  this  early  date.  The  general  design,  when 
the  1 2  sheets  are  made  up  as  a  whole,  is  highly  pleasing  and  artistic.  The 
whole  map  is  drawn  on  the  modified  cone  projection  of  Ptolemy." 

This  map  was  aptly  termed  by  Professor  Jos.  Fischer,  its  discoverer,  "The 
Baptismal  Certificate  of  the  New  World,"  as  stated  in  a  circular  issued  by 
Henry  N.  Stevens  of  London  in  1902,  offering  the  original  of  the  map  for  sale 
at  the  price  of  8300,000. 

Mr.  Stevens  adds: 

"All  honour  then  to  Martin  Waldseemiiller,  who  not  only  gave  in  his  book  its  present 
name  to  the  newly  discovered  Western  Land,  but  also,  as  a  geographer  and  cartog 
rapher,  first  delineated  in  print  the  outlines  of  that  glorious  discovery,  and  placed 
thereon  the  beautiful  and  time-abiding  name  of  AMERICA  which  he  himself  had  so 
aptly  suggested." 

Waldseemuller  applied  the  name  AMERICA  to  the  southern  continent  only, 
as  being  the  lands  of  -the  discoveries  and  coast  explorations  by  Vespucius. 
The  name  AMERICA  was  first  applied  to  the  entire  western  hemisphere  by 
Gerard  Mercator  upon  his  Mapamundi  of  1538,  where  it  appears  as  shown 
on  the  original  engraving  of  this  map,  now  in  the  Library  of  the  American 
Geographical  Society  of  New  York,  as  AMERI  CAE,  in  separate  lines,  on  both 
the  northern  and  southern  continents.  The  public  naturally  adopted  the  prefixes 
North  and  South  as  appropriate  and  separate  designations  for  the  two  continents. 
It  was  not,  however,  until  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  that  AMERICA 
was  recognized  "as  the  established  continental  name." 

The  Waldseemuller  map  of  1507  in  reduced  form  is  submitted  herewith 
for  detailed  examination. 

A  medal  in  commemoration  of  Americus  Vespucius  and  his  discoveries  was 
published  by  the  American  Numismatic  Society  in  1904.  It  was  struck  in 
gold,  silver,  bronze  and  copper,  and  limited  in  issue  to  162  medals,  the  dies 
being  defaced  thereafter.  The  design  of  this  medal  represents  the  portion  of  the 
map  of  1507  that  shows  the  word  AMERICA,  a  portrait  of  Vespucius,  and  a 
facsimile  of  the  signature  of  Martin  Waldseemuller,  as  signed  to  his  letter  of  April 
7,  1507,  to  his  friend  Joh.  Amerbach,  of  Basel.  This  medal  is  shown  herein. 


[2,] 


The  records  referred  to  herein  indicate,  and  in  some  important  particulars 
may  be  said  to  prove:  — 

1 .  That  Christopher  Columbus  and  Americus  Vespucius  were  acquainted  during 
their  respective  periods  of  voyages  of  discovery,  and  were  friends  thereafter. 

2.  That  the  first  four,  and  the  principal  voyages  of  Vespucius  were  made  under 
commanders  of  recognized  experience  as  seamen,  while  he  acted  at  the  request  of  the 
patron  King  as  astronomer  and  cartographer,  for  which  he  was  considered  an  expert. 

3.  That  his  reports  to  his  Royal  patrons,  two  made  when  in  the  service  of  the  King 
of  Spain  and  two  when  serving  the  King  of   Portugal,  have  not  been  found,   nor 
any  official  reference  thereto,  nor  the  volume  of  his  private  notes  that  he  declared  his 
intention  to  publish.    The  only  direct  written  evidence  from  him  is  contained  in  his 
personal  letters  to  two  intimate  friends  of  his  youth  in  Florence,  in  which  there  is  no 
suggestion  of  a  name  for  the  countries  he  discovered  other  than  a  New  World,  of  the 
finding  of  which  all  civilized  Europe  was  at  that  period  in  expectation. 

4.  That  the  voyages  of  Columbus  were  directed  mainly  to  the  west  in  search  of 
islands,   mainland,   and  open  waters  to  the  west,   while  the  voyages   of  Vespucius 
were  southwesterly  and  southward,  with  the  exception  of  his  first  voyage  to  the  Carib 
bean  Sea  and  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  Florida  and  northward  along  the  coast  as  far  as 
Chesapeake  Bay. 

5.  That  Martin  Waldseemiiller,  a  young  professor  of  Cartography  at  the  lyceum  of 
Saint-Die,  in  a  small  and  remote  town  of  the  Vosges  Mountains,  in  his  efforts  to  keep 
informed  about  all  new  discoveries  affecting  his  studies,  obtained  possession  of  the 
letters  of  Vespucius  and  at  once  recognized  the  importance  of  the  information  they 
contained,  particularly  as  to  the  three  voyages  that  disclosed  a  great  continent  mostly 
located  south  of  the  equator,  and  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn. 

6.  That  Waldseemiiller,  without  ever  having  seen  Vespucius  or  having  any   com 
munication  with  him,  and  without  his  knowledge,  suggested  the  name  "AMERICA" 
because  he  considered  it,  for  the  reasons  given,  an  appropriate  designation  of  the 
continent  discovered. 

The  Waldseemuller  World  Map  of  1507  bears  the  word 

^AMERICA 

placed  horizontally  in  the  middle  of  the  southern  continent  near  the 

line  of  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn. 

It    thus    appears   that    the    inhabitants   of  that    country  and  their 
descendants  constitute  the  only  original  Americans,  that  their 
southern  continent  is  the  only  true  America,  and 
that   the  map  of  I $0?  is  indeed  the 
Baptismal  Certificate  of  the 
New  U^orld 


[22] 


HOMMAGE 

a  la  justice,  a  la  moralite,  et 

a  la  verite  historique 

en  faveur  du  nom 

AMERICAIN 


FRANCISCO  ADOLPHO  DE  VARNHAGEN 

Viscount  of  Porto  Seguro 

Historian 


[23] 


Bartlett  Orr  Press,  New  York 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

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RECTD  LD 


OCT  15  1956 


ED 


t  r'' 


,.- 


LD  21-100m-6,'56 
(B9311slO)476 


T   .Gen.eral  ,Lj?"fy     . 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


